So I'm renovating and on the way back home there's an Ikea. Having sussed out the expensive lounges near our hometown, I'm realistically settling on good old Swedish design.
It's a Sunday and everyone is masked but it's packed. We do the circuit as quickly as possible, taking photos of weird names and getting out as quickly as possible. No one speaks English but I have ascertained with my bad Italian that they do deliver to the mountains. We unmask and breathe fresh air and we're on our way again.
130 kmh is not quite fast enough, I'm passed by everyone and they in turn are passed by the police. We get home fairly fast, although it's a 4.5 hour trip, so doing Australian speed, it would probably take us 6 hours.
After eating the leftover pizza, the girls head down to the lake. They are on the search for rocks. My tenant is a geologist and the daughter has always been into rocks courtesy of her grandmother who also loved them. I head down later and find them, two bird-like figures bent over looking. I ask the late husband to help them find a fossil and suddenly there's a shout and they call me over. They have found an ammonite with a tiny crystal cave in a section and then it starts to sleet. Our tenant is so excited, even though she comes from Nepal, she's only seen snow once before. Their excitement is contagious. We all start looking for more ammonites but that is the only one that afternoon.
On arrival home, as darkness falls, it begins to snow in earnest. Big fluffy flakes fall against the outside light as we rush from window to balcony and watch the hillside turn white. It continues into the night and when we awake, the village is covered, the sunrise illuminating everything.
We decide to go up into the mountains to Lake Misurina. I'm worried that the car won't make it without the snow tyres but we can always turn back but the sun has come out and the roads are clear and we arrive. The lake is frozen, there are icicles dripping from the roofs. The girls have a snowball fight and we harbour in the only restaurant that is open and we have Italian thick hot chocolate with whipped cream on the side. The daughter has a Bombardino which in the menu is described in English as a 'warm spirit with cream' - a must have of course. It's Vov and brandy warmed and topped with cream. A perfect snow drink.
A perfect day, even if no more fossils were found.
The next day we go to a geological museum in Cortina and we're blown away by the sea creatures that are found in this area. Millions of years ago the Dolomites were born out of the sea in massive collisions of the African and European tectonic plates that forced the rocks at the point of impact to push up and become the Dolomite Mountains. Sea fossils abound in this area so I know what we'll be doing at some point.
I take the girls to another river place where rocks abound and we spend ages hunting for the right rocks that may contain sea creatures and I eventually give up and sit and listen to the mountain stream gurgling over the rocks but then I see the girls waving. They have found a huge reddish coloured rock and in various places are large ammonites and other sea creatures. They have bought a hammer and screwdriver that they found in the garage here and they try unsuccessfully to dig a couple out but it doesn't matter, they are over the moon. Another great day.
And then it's time for our tenant to go back to work so we drop her at the bus stop with sad farewells then make our way to a paint shop. I have been slightly nervous all day. I don't know whether they use lime was and pigment or whether they have colour guides as we do so I take magazines with the colours I want. No one speaks English. I ask for a colour guide in basic Italian and she brings me one. We are on our way. Then a male comes out when I've made my choices, writes down all the numbers, asks the size of the room (I've no idea but we make a guess), he works out the litres and the different paint I'll need for the cupboards and I settle in to wait. But no, they will be ready late this afternoon or if I prefer, tomorrow morning. Ah, Italia, no wonder they live a long time. There are no other people in the shop but maybe he has orders.
We take off to another location and on the way a policeman pulls us over. This is the first time in thirty four years that this has occurred. He asks for my license and the hire cars paperwork and then tells us he needs to see my International drivers licence. I haven't got one, I've only ever used my Australian one. The exchange so far has been in Italian and then he leaves with my licence and we become slightly sweaty but then he returns having goggle translated that I will need an International licence. I tell him I will get one online today. He puts two fingers over his eyes and says: I'm closing my eyes. I thank him profusely. In Australia I would have been fined and felt threatened. Here, I feel the police are slightly on our side.
After our run in with the Italian police, we go to an electrical shop and I buy a vintage green toaster, kettle (they are rare here) and a blender. Then we find a super, supermercato that is beyond belief. We could spend the day there it's so interesting. I buy bathrooms towels, beautiful kitchen bowls, we find white thick asparagus and lots of interesting tins of things. There is a cafe within and it's midday and everyone is having a glass of wine. Honestly, this is how you shop! Again, everyone is masked. We go home with our haul and it takes two trips to drag everything up the three flights of stairs.
When we unpack, I go online and get my International driver's licence just in case I get pulled over again in the next thirty years.
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